I am wondering if anyone has had experiences being pregnant shortly after a resection. How long did you wait after the surgery to conceive? And did the surgery have any direct impact on your pregnancy?

I had a miscarriage in November and am obviously impatient to try again but it looks like things are on hold until after a resection to remove a small stricture in the transverse colon. I am just trying to prepare myself mentally for how long we will have to wait to recover from the surgery before trying to conceive.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you may have. Diagnosed with Crohn's disease 11/05

I had a resection of my large intestine in June 2006 and got pregnant in in August 2007, so a little over a year later. I'm not sure if I could have gotten pregnant sooner or not - we wanted our kids to be 3 years apart at least, so that's why we waited until then. For what it's worth, my pregnancy has been easy and I haven't had any problems having had a resection before getting pregnant. also - I had 2 miscarriages before I got pregnant with my daughter. Good luck to you!

I had a resection in May 2005 and got pregnant in April 2006 and had no complications from the surgery... in fact I felt better while I was pregnant than I have in a long time-- besides all the morning sickness.

I had my resection in July 07 and got pregnant in Dec 07. I am 12 weeks now. Things are going well and both my GI and OB/GYN were fine with it. I was concerned about my scar and the stretching late in pregnancy because it is still sensitive - a small issue to be able to have another baby that I never thought I would have. Talk to your dr(s) and go with what your body tells you. GOOD LUCK!

Fibromyalgia DX March 2003

Crohn's DX Jan 2006 (Symptoms since 96-Misdiagnosed as "female" problems-Major flare during pregnancy in 05 which lead to DX)

Thanks everyone. It is great to hear your success stories. I am definitely working closely with my doctors and will speak with my OB/GYN and the surgeon in the next few weeks, but I am so impatient. It is hard to wait until my appointments so it is helpful to at least hear how others have done things.

I am curious if most resections are done laparoscopically. I don't even know yet whether mine would be, but it seems like that would have an impact on the recovery time and the scarring issue.

Amber - Mine wasn't. It was an option, but by the time the 2 surgeons who had to do it together could get it on the schedule, it was too long for me to wait. (I had a very, very narrow section that they were afraid was going to completely close or rupture). But even though they did mine the old-fashioned way, I only spent 4 days in the hospital and recovered very quickly. I felt better a lot faster than I did after my c-section, in fact.

My surgery was "open". It was initially supposed to be a lap surgery but once they got inside, it was worse than expected and they cut me about 7 inches down the middle plus the 2 one inch incisions on the side. I was in the hospital 8 days and recovery was hard for the first 2 weeks. I also have a 2 year old at home which I think made it worse for me since I thought I could/should do more than necessary. GOODLUCK!

Fibromyalgia DX March 2003

Crohn's DX Jan 2006 (Symptoms since 96-Misdiagnosed as "female" problems-Major flare during pregnancy in 05 which lead to DX)

I didnt read the responses sorry just got back from the bathroom or as my husband calls it my office....oh yeah my cat is the secretary according to him since Midnight waits as the door for me to come out...and I am in a bit of pain. I have had multiple resections within the past year. My GI is a CD specialist his name is Samir Shah he is one of the directors of CCFA in new england and he does many speaches about pregnancy CD, and CD meds. I was told 6 months. Last year when it was just after my 1st Sx..then 2nd one he said (the 2nd Sx I ended up with a temporary ileostomay) 6 months after the reversal we will do a colonoscopy6 to make sure the preventative meds are doing their job and if all looks good you will get the green light....well I ended up with an enterocutaneous fistula and had to have more surgery in January but still had that scope in december. He said it looked as though the Humira has put it back in remission except for the areas that were going to be removed from the CD causign the fistula etc. Since my Surgery I saw him exactly 1 month post op and he told me then when my wound infection healed to start back on HUmira but at the regular dose (1 every other week) I was on double that before the surgery to help with drainage and joint pain. He told me that if in 6 months (so 6 months from February) if I have no major CD problems etc I will not need another scope to get the green light to try and start a family he said if I decide to wait like 2 or 3 years I would need another scope in that case. He also mentioned tryikng abviously the natural way and if unable to concieve then go to IVF. My husband has a child from a previous relationship therefore if there are issues with concieveing I will be 99%sure its me lol.

Good luck I hope your doc is up to date on things like mine. I know I will need a high risk OBGYN and he said he would keep me on HUmira for the 1st 2 trimesters and prefer to take me off for the last trimester but I guess we will iron out those details better when the time comes and if issues arise when I do become pregnant.Dx with Crohn's 1987, symptoms as early as 1984.